Colonne VF

Colonne de Juillet, place de la Bastille

Discover a monument commemorating the defence of civil liberties by the citizenry.

Monument closed

History of the monument

In 1830, the "Trois Glorieuses", the Three Glorious Days or the July Revolution, brought Louis-Philippe to power. To pay tribute to the victims and their struggle, he ordered the construction of a triumphal column topped with the Génie de la Liberté (Spirit of Freedom). Two architects worked on this monument: Alavoine and then Duc.

Built on the site of the Bastille prison, the July Column was inaugurated in 1840. During the ceremony, the Grand Funeral and Triumphal Symphony by Hector Berlioz, conducted by the composer, was performed as the bodies of the revolutionaries arrived in their funereal carriage for burial in the monument.

After the 1848 Revolution, the throne of Louis-Philippe was burned at the foot of the column and the remains of the rioters were interred in the vaults of the monument. Following the fall of Napoleon III in 1871, during the Paris Commune, the monument barely escaped destruction.

Classed as a historical monument in 1995, an important relic of the 19th centurydue to its history and architecture, the column will open to visitors in 2018.